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| Affiliation | Independent |
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| Name | Tom Higgins |
| Address |
Los Angeles, California , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | [Link] |
| Born |
Unknown
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| Contributor | User 13 |
| Last Modifed | User 13
Mar 02, 2004 11:37am |
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| Info | Mr. Higgins is the oldest of six children. Although born in Los Angeles, he spent his youth growing up on a farm near Woodland, California. The life-style was motivated by his father's desire to escape the urban environment of Los Angeles and raise his family in a rural setting similar to his own upbringing in County Longford, Ireland. Mr. Higgins attended elementary school at Holy Rosary Academy in Woodland. Upon finishing elementary school he continued his education at Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento, approximately 30 miles from his home.
After graduation from high school, his family moved to Sacramento where he attended Sacramento State College majoring in Political Science with a minor in history. For the first part of his collegiate years he worked nights at the U.S. Post Office sorting mail. Upon becoming married, Mr. Higgins became a full-time police officer for the City of Sacramento. During the seven years he was employed by the Sacramento Police Department, he worked the patrol division, the training division and the detective bureau. He was a sergeant at the time he resigned from the police department in 1969.
After Mr. Higgins graduated from Sacramento State in 1964. He enrolled at Mc George School of Law from which he received his Juris Doctorate in 1968. After passing the California State Bar examination in November, 1968, he began his employment with the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office in 1969. For his first seven years as a deputy district attorney he tried approximately 100 felony jury trials in downtown Los Angeles and became a Grade IV Calendar deputy. In 1976, he was assigned to the Pomona Branch Court where he tried felony jury trials in addition to his calendar deputy responsibilities. In 1978, he became the Assistant Head Deputy of the Pomona Branch.
From 1979 to 1986 he was the deputy in charge of the West Covina and the El Monte Area offices. In these assignments he was recognized as an innovative and inspirational leader who earned the admiration and respect of his staff and the community. He initiated a domestic violence program for the protection of women. In 1982, he received the Equal Justice Award from the NAACP.
After his time as a deputy in charge of the El Monte Area Office, he was assigned to the Training Division in 1986. In the latter part of 1986, he was appointed the Head Deputy of the Sexual Crimes and Child Abuse Division. He brought the same energy and enthusiasm to this assignment as demonstrated throughout his career. In 1988, District Attorney Ira Reiner assigned him as the Head Deputy of the Juvenile Division with the mandate to turn the Juvenile Division upside down. Mr. Higgins took that direction to heart.
During his time as Head of the Juvenile Division he was the architect or a major force behind many positive programs within the juvenile system. The list is extensive, including two Juvenile Drug Courts, Mental Health Court, pretrial disposition of juvenile cases, creating alliances with schools to address violence and truancy and a myriad of other programs. Mr. Higgins was also a member of a number of task forces such as. 300/600 ( high risk dependent children) and SB1095 (transitional programs for minors released from camps) and the Los Angeles County Bar Association task force for juvenile justice to mention only a few. He promoted a greater use of the fitness procedures in this county so that the violent adolescent predators, particularly those using firearms, were tried in the adult court thus removing them from the community for a longer period of time, than is possible in the juvenile justice system.
Mr. Higgins has had significant input in juvenile justice legislation over the years including legislation that changed school funding so as to make schools more accountable for addressing excessive improperly excused illness absences. He was instrumental in legislation that created stronger regulations relating to minors using personal watercraft. He also piloted and wrote section 660.5 W.I.C. that provided for the speedy arraignment for out of custody minors. This caused out of custody minors to appear in court in 60 days rather that the previous practice of minors not showing up in court for six months or longer after the offense. This early intervention has benefited both the minors and the community since the quicker arraignment will many times prevent minors from accumulating a number of cases due to lack of speedy court intervention.
Within the District Attorney's office one of his most significant accomplishments was the staffing of juvenile courts with Grade IV prosecutors. The extensive experience brought by these prosecutors is necessary for the very complex and life-shaping decisions made by deputy district attorneys in the juvenile court. Many, including the Rand report to the Board of Supervisors and the National District Attorney's Association, have recommended using experienced prosecutors in juvenile court. Perhaps his most notable achievement within the District Attorney's Office Juvenile Division was the creation of the Abolish Chronic Truancy (A.C.T.) Program which holds parents of elementary school children accountable under 272 P.C. for their children's attendance. It has been very successful and has provided a model for other district attorney's offices throughout the United States. In the early years of the program the major impetus for growth was provided by Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina when she used her discretionary funds for the salaries of 3.5 Deputy District Attorneys to work the A.C.T. Program. At its peak there were twelve deputy district attorneys assigned to the A.C.T. Program in 337 schools within Los Angeles County. This peak was due to be exceeded on July 1. 2001 with two additional deputy district attorneys and the addition of 60 more schools.
After 13 years as the Head Deputy of the Juvenile Division, Mr. Higgins was named the Head Deputy of the Worker's Compensation Fraud Division on October 15, 2001. In his short time in this new assignment, Mr. Higgins has brought new life to the area of worker's compensation fraud prosecution. His first priority has been to address the forgotten victim of worker's compensation fraud - the taxpayer. He has specially assigned three prosecutors to exclusively investigate and prosecute all fraud occurring within government entities. These prosecutors will aggressively prosecute all fraud whether by the employee, the employer, doctors or lawyers. However, consistent with his vision that prosecutors have a duty to protect society not only by prosecutions but by prevention, he has established a prevention program to go along with the vigorous prosecution of fraud. In his first full fiscal year as Head of the division he more than doubled the criminal fraud filings over the previous fiscal year.
In his free time Mr. Higgins does extensive long distance running. He is a member of the Latino Prosecutors Association and the California District Attorneys Association. He is married and the father of eight children, currently residing in LaVerne.
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